Cannabis drug detection device

ABSTRACT

A system for collecting cannabis and the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol from a sample of exhaled breath is disclosed. Single or multiple exhaled breaths are conditioned by removing contaminants, and regulating flow rate and/or pressure to collect a sample of tetrahydrocannabinol for timely local or remote analysis. The cannabis detection system comprises a containment trap for removing interfering materials from the breath of the subject and a collection component for sampling components of breath introduced into the system through the containment trap for analysis to determine a presence of THC in the breath.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.61/981,650 filed Apr. 18, 2014, currently pending, which is incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed to a portable or fixed device for thedetection of cannabis, specifically tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), from theexhaled breath of a subject.

RELATED ART

Detection of cannabis is commonly performed by urine, blood, or oralspecimen sampling. These methods are frequently invasive and requirecomplicated devices for analysis. Alcohol is a simple molecule which canbe examined directly by an exhaled breath exam, most commonly byexhaling into an ion spectroscopy chamber. This method has provenreliable and is accepted by legal systems as a noninvasive method toquantify alcohol levels.

Detection of drugs by an exhaled breath method has been proposed;however, the technique proposed is generic for multiple differentillicit drugs. The proposed devices have been described for detection ofdrugs within the exhaled breath using a fluid collection or filtrationsystem. Most of these devices describe a tube into which the subjectexhales, which indiscriminately collects molecules of interest in eithera liquid or filtration device. This liquid or fluid trapped within afilter is then sent to a laboratory for analysis, which may take severaldays. These devices lack methods for measurement of exhaled breathvolumetric flowrate and for regulating pressure. With exhaled breath,each individual has the capability to exhale to different pressures, andif, for example, a filter based system is utilized to measure cannabis,an unregulated high pressure provided by a subject can tear apart thefilter. Also, as each subject has a different amount of exhaled breath,it is important to be able to quantify the flowrate, or total volumetricflow, that has been breathed into the device.

The prior art devices which are designed to measure exhaled breathdescribe a mouthpiece which comprises a tube into which the subjectexhales. This tube, without a rebreather valve, requires that thesubject inhale through their nose, or remove the device from their lipsto inhale.

Prior devices designed for exhaled breath do not describe a method ofremoval of fluid or solid contaminants, such as by way of a spit trap tocollect or remove oral fluids, which prevents oral fluid contaminantsfrom reaching a gas material detection chamber.

SUMMARY

The present invention comprises a system which is designed to measure asubject's breath, remove fluid and/or contaminants, and collect atetrahydrocannabinol (THC) sample in an entrapment container fordetection of cannabis use.

The invention includes a breathing tube with a rebreather valve, and afluid and solid contaminant removal device. A pressure or volumetricflow measurement and regulating device is placed along the path of theexhaled breath pathway before or after a fixed or removable THC samplecollecting chamber.

The THC collecting chamber may contain a port for cannabis sampledetection, preparation or collection.

The described device is designed to permit detection of cannabis userelatively quickly, thus allowing it to be used, for example, by policeofficers in the field, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration showing an embodiment of the systemto collect a cannabis sample from a breathing subject.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for collecting a sample ofcannabis.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN THE DRAWINGS

-   20 device for cannabis detection (10)-   22 Method of materials movement for detection of THC and cannabis    (20)-   24 Subject-   30 mouthpiece (11)-   32 intake nonrebreather valve (12)-   34 contaminant trap (13)-   36 THC collection and housing component (16)-   38 pressure measurement and/or regulator (14)-   40 liquid injection and or sampling port (15)-   42 volumetric flow measuring device (17)-   50 breathing device (21)-   52 contaminant removal (22)-   54 exhaled breath flow conditioner (23)-   60 THC collection device (24)-   62 volume, flow and pressure measurement device (25)-   64 sample preparation or collection device (26)

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many differentforms, there are shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail, preferred embodiments of the invention with the understandingthat the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification ofthe principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broadaspects of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

Cannabis detection by breath requires many components to separate rawcannabis and its metabolized forms from the psychoactive componenttetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

The embodiment of the invention described in FIG. 1 consists of aportable cannabis detection system 20, where the psychoactive componentof cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol, is detected from the breath of asubject 24. FIG. 2 is the block diagram illustrating a method 22 fordetecting and/or measuring THC in the breath of the subject 24. Themethod 22 depicted in the block diagram of FIG. 2 may be implemented bythe portable cannabis detection system 20 of FIG. 1 or by any device orsystem capable of performing at least some combination of the stepsdescribed in FIG. 1.

The example portable cannabis detection system 20 comprises a mouthpiece30, an intake non-rebreather valve 32, a contaminant trap 34, a THCcollection and housing component 36, a pressure measurement and/orregulator component 38, a liquid injection/sampling port 40, and avolumetric flow measuring component 42. The cannabis detection system 20is comprised of either disposable, or aseptic cleanable reusablecomponents or as a single whole device.

The flowchart of FIG. 2 outlines the method for detection 22 of THC byoutlining the direction materials pass through a device for cannabisdetection such as the portable cannabis detection system 20 as generallydescribed above. The detection method 22 depicted in FIG. 2 comprisesthe steps of providing a breathing device at block 50, removingcontaminant material at block 52, conditioning the exhaled breath flowat block 54, collecting the THC at the block 60, measuring at least oneand typically all of volume, flow, and pressure at block 62, andcollecting or preparing a sample at block 64. The components andmaterials used by the steps in the flowchart of FIG. 2 are designed toprovide to a THC collection device such as the THC collection component36 of the example portable cannabis detection system 20 described above,at block 60, an appropriate sample of exhaled breath from which THCcontent may be detected and/or measured.

Referring now more specifically to FIG. 1 of the drawing, it can be seenthat the example cannabis detection system 20 is coupled to the subject24 via the mouthpiece 30. This mouthpiece 30 is directly connected to anon-rebreather valve 32 which allows the subject 24 to both inhale andexhale through the mouthpiece 30 without the subject 24 removing hislips from the mouthpiece 30 to inhale and without requiring the subject24 to breathe through his nose to inhale. The air exchange stepperformed by the example mouthpiece 30 and non-rebreather valve 32 isdescribed at the block 50 in the flowchart of FIG. 2. Arrows A and B inFIGS. 1 and 2 show air entering and exiting the system, respectively,thereby allowing the subject 24 to inhale and exhale through themouthpiece 30, with the exhaled breath being redirected into thecontaminant trap 34.

The example contaminant trap 34 consists of a device that allowsinterfering materials, such as vapor, fluid, and/or solids, to beremoved from the exhaled breath from the subject 24 and allows exhaledTHC-containing breath to pass through unrestricted. The example trap 34thus removes contaminants from the exhaled breath as performed by theremoving contaminant material step shown at block 52 in FIG. 2. Thecontainment trap 34 can be removed to access liquid contaminants whichmay include metabolized or unmetabolized components of cannabis or toremove components of exhaled breath that would interfere with thedetection of THC in the collection device 36. The example containmenttrap 34 may be a contaminant removal component comprising a flap valvecovering holes that allows oral fluid to pass out of the device or to becollected in another chamber.

The degree of effort of exhalation by subjects such as the subject 24 isvariable, which results in the exhaled breath occurring at variouspressures. To provide the THC collection component 36 with a suitablepressure or flow rate, a pressure regulator and or measuring device 38is placed in line with the exhaled breath. The example THC collectioncomponent 36 prepares the exhaled breath to be appropriately collectedas shown at the step corresponding to block 54 in the flowchart of FIG.2. The pressure measuring and/or regulating component 38 can be placedanywhere beyond the mouthpiece to control pressure input into or fromthe device. A wide variety of pressure regulating or measuring devicescan be utilized, and an example may consist of a balloon which expandswith high pressure exhaled breath, and collapses to deliver exhaledbreath to the detection component of the device at a controlledpressure.

The THC collection component 36 may consist of a vacuum, gas and/orliquid filled chamber with a filter or sensor that is capable ofcollecting or detecting THC. The example THC collection device 36 may bedirectly accessed by a sampling port 40 for either sampling or fillingwith gas or liquid materials as shown by block 64 in FIG. 2. The THCcollection component 36 in whole or in part may be removed from thecannabis detection system 20. An embodiment of the THC collectioncomponent 36 would be a filter or cartridge that can be removed forsampling via high performance liquid chromatography and/or massspectrometry. Other potential embodiments include an ion or magneticresonance chamber, color detection, light spectroscopy, and/ornanoparticle filter. In another embodiment, the THC collection component36 may consist of a chemical that forms an appearance change materialwhich reacts with THC. This would result in a reaction or change inchemical or physical properties of such chemical so that the alterationwould be detectable. For example, a chemical coming into contact withTHC could result in a changing of color of the chemical. This colorchange can then be visualized by detection/looking through the accessport 40. The port 40 can be used to prepare the filtered sample for anyof these methods.

In line with the exhaled breath flowchart as outlined in FIG. 1, avolumetric flow measuring device 42 is placed to quantify the amount ofexhaled breath provided by the subject 24. The location of thismeasurement device 62 as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 can be placedanywhere along the pathway of the exhaled breath, or may be coupled withthe step of conditioning the exhaled breath flow shown by block 54and/or the pressure measurement or regulator device 38. The purpose forrecording the volume of breath passing through the device is to enable away to measure how much exhaled breath has been input into the system20. Each individual, based on their lung capacity and/or effort, canexhale different volumes. A volumetric flow rate measurement deviceincorporated into the system for cannabis detection provides a means toquantify this amount per breath, and/or as a total sum during use of thedevice. This ensures that sufficient exhaled breath is delivered to theTHC collection component 36 to allow detection of cannabis or THC use. Avariety of different flow meters can be used as the volumetric flowmeasuring device 42. One example is a rotating blade which spins withexhaled breath and records the volume of flow that is exhaled. A secondexample would be a diaphragm that detects air pressure and converts airpressure to flow volume.

In one embodiment, the device can provide results of THC detection inseconds or minutes based on how the cannabis detection device 20 and/orTHC collection analysis method 22 are implemented.

In another embodiment, the device can be implemented or equipped tocorrelate a measured or detected THC sample to a specific subject. Forexample, a DNA fingerprint method can be added to the contaminant trap34, or elsewhere inline, to detect and/or monitor who is utilizing thedevice (e.g., through use of the subject's saliva or other DNA sample).In this case, the THC sample measurement and the DNA sample are storedtogether and/or cross-reference in a way that ensures that a particularTHC sample measurement and DNA sample are positively associated witheach other for evidentiary purposes if necessary.

Several embodiments of the invention have been described. It should beunderstood that the concepts described in connection with one embodimentof the invention may be combined with the concepts described inconnection with another embodiment (or other embodiments) of theinvention.

While an effort has been made to describe some alternatives to thepreferred embodiment, other alternatives will readily come to mind tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, it should be understood that theinvention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing fromthe spirit or central characteristics thereof. The present examples andembodiments, therefore, are to be considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not intended tobe limited to the details given herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cannabis detection system for detecting THC inthe breath of a subject, comprising: a containment trap for removinginterfering materials from the breath of the subject; and a collectioncomponent for sampling components of breath introduced into the systemthrough the containment trap for analysis to determine a presence of THCin the breath.
 2. A cannabis detection system as recited in claim 1,further comprising a non-rebreather valve that allows the subject toinhale and exhale while introducing breath into the system.
 3. Acannabis detection system as recited in claim 1, further comprising apressure regulator for regulating the pressure of the breath introducedinto the system.
 4. A cannabis detection system as recited in claim 1,further comprising a flow measurement device for measuring a volumetricamount of breath introduced into the system by the subject.
 5. Acannabis detection system as recited in claim 1, further comprising amouthpiece for facilitating introduction of breath into the system bythe subject.
 6. A cannabis detection system as recited in claim 1,further comprising a sampling port for allowing access to the componentssampled by the collection component.
 7. A cannabis detection system asrecited in claim 1, in which the collection component further comprisesa filter for trapping components of the breath sampled by the collectioncomponent.
 8. A cannabis detection system as recited in claim 1, inwhich the containment trap comprises a flap valve covering holes toallow fluids to be removed from the breath introduced into the system.9. A cannabis detection system as recited in claim 3, in which thepressure regulator comprises a balloon that inflates to regulate thepressure of breath introduced into the system.
 10. A cannabis detectionsystem as recited in claim 1, in which the components of the breathsampled by the collection component are analyzed using at least one ofliquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, ion resonance chamber,magnetic resonance chamber, light spectroscopy, color detection, andfilter.
 11. A cannabis detection system as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising an appearance change material that changes appearance when incontact with THC.
 12. A method of detecting cannabis used by analyzingbreath of a subject, comprising the steps of: removing contaminantmaterial from the breath; collecting a sample of at least one componentof the breath of the subject after the contaminant material has beenremoved therefrom; and analyzing the sample for the presence of THC. 13.A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of allowingthe subject to inhale and exhale while introducing breath into thesystem.
 14. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the stepof regulating the pressure of the breath introduced into the system. 15.A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of measuringa volumetric amount of breath introduced into the system by the subject.16. A cannabis detection system for detecting THC in the breath of asubject, comprising: a mouthpiece for facilitating introduction ofbreath into the system by the subject; a non-rebreather valve thatallows the subject to inhale and exhale while introducing breath intothe system; a containment trap for removing interfering materials fromthe breath of the subject introduced into the system; a pressureregulator for regulating the pressure of the breath introduced into thesystem a flow measurement device for measuring a volumetric amount ofbreath introduced into the system by the subject; a collection componentfor sampling components of breath introduced into the system through thecontainment trap; and a sampling port for allowing access to thecomponents sampled by the collection component to facilitate analysis ofthe components sampled by the collection component to determine apresence of THC in the breath.
 17. A cannabis detection system asrecited in claim 16, in which the collection component further comprisesa filter for trapping components of the breath sampled by the collectioncomponent.
 18. A cannabis detection system as recited in claim 16, inwhich the containment trap comprises a flap valve covering holes toallow fluids to be removed from the breath introduced into the system.19. A cannabis detection system as recited in claim 16, in which thepressure regulator comprises a balloon that inflates to regulate thepressure of breath introduced into the system.
 20. A cannabis detectionsystem as recited in claim 16, in which the components of the breathsampled by the collection component are analyzed using at least one ofliquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, ion resonance chamber,magnetic resonance chamber, light spectroscopy, colorimetry, and filter.21. A cannabis detection system as recited in claim 16, furthercomprising an appearance change material that changes appearance when incontact with THC.